Ignition coils

[Aaron]

Heya fellas! So, one of my coils keeps crapping when it gets hot and i wanna replace em anyway. Already done the "new wires in old coils" trick. Here is where my problem lies. Going to a rally with ma this weekend and gotta fix the coils today. Cant find any stock coils anywhere. Don't have time to order off of mikesxs and there are no local distributors for dyna coils that i can find. What i need are coils off another bike. Easier to find coils. There is a harley house right across the street from me and i have easy access to just about any other dealership there is. Are there any coils that will switch over with mild or no modifications?

[bikerphil]

Accel's will work, P/N 140403. Might be easier to find than Dynatek's.

[mxmikie]

i liked the honda vt 500/750 coils

[Aaron]

Awesome. Does any ol' autopart store have em or will i have to call a stealership?

[Aaron]

got a year range on those hondas?

[Aaron]

After calling around all day, its a no-go on coils. None in stock anywhere. So i'm redoing the new wire fix on the old coils and im gonna see if i can rig up some kind of heat shield to keep em from getting too hot. Anyway, in the process of changing the wires on the 1/4 coil, i lost track of which plug wire goes to which cylinder. Are the wires oriented to the left side/right side of the bike in the same way the 2/3 coil is? Or can you just tell me which is which by some other identifier?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Aaron,

If you still have the 2-3 coil in place and connected to the plugs, then the 1-4 coil wires just go to those cylinders, but it doesn't matter which wire goes to which plug, they both fire at the same time, one is just a wasted spark on the exhaust stroke!

May be a stupid question but do you still have the ballast resistor in the circuit? Your coils are the ones that need that reduced voltage, and they can overheat if they are getting 12 volts all the time...if the BR has been bypassed for some reason?? Just a thought!

T.C.

[bikerphil]

Aaron, why don't you hit a bike junkyard, should be able to find some 3 ohm coils off of something there, JAT.

[Aaron]

Its too late for the yards around here Phil. They are closed. And i didn't wanna drive all the way to east dallas to the only yard that knew for sure they had my coils. Besides, i think im gonna save it til later and upgrade. It needs to be done. For now its bandaid time. On the ballast resistor, it's there and wired in properly. I lucked out when i got my bike as the wiring is 99.5% un-molested by POs.

[Aaron]

Crap crap crap CRAP!!!!!

I changed my ignition coil wires and left the boots that came on em from the store. Put platinum plugs in. Mounted the coils a bit higher from the engine. and put in a heat shield. Now im getting a great big blue spark! Now it starts a little bit hard and the engine wont take any load. Runs fine in neutral. If i put it in first, i cant get movin without it killing the engine. Even if i try really giving it gas it still chokes up. What do ya think i did wrong guys? Is it the boots that came with the wires?

[Aaron]

So i've read that if i have non-resistor plug boots and plugs with no internal resistance, it can disrupt the TCI. Seems like if that was my problem, the bike wouldn't want to run at all. I doubt its a likely suspect for my problems, but it is very interesting none the less. What are the chances the new hotter spark im getting is such an improvement its causing the bike to run way too lean? Also doesn't seem too likely, but im trying. It was running great prior to changing the wires and plugs. How would just that change cause the running engine to not take any load? Make no sense to me.

[GLoweVA]

The starting circuit allows the ballast resistor to be bypassed, so that may be why you get a good spark when starting, but not while running.
Just a thought.

[Aaron]

But i do get a good spark when running. It runs like a champ in neutral. I can give it gas all day long, it will rev to the redline, no stumbling or anything of that nature. But if i put it in first and let off the clutch, it dies. It doesnt matter how much i gas it either. I know all four cylinders are firing.

[GLoweVA]

Okay, I'm a little stumped.

Maybe something with the pick up wires/vac advance, so when the engine gets some load, the bike doesn't fire?

Try putting it in gear on the centerstand. There's not a whole lot of load trying to just rotate the back tire instead of it trying to push the whole bike down the road.

If you think it's running to lean with the 'better' spark, try running it with the choke in the mid position and see if then you can get her to run in gear.

I'm racking my brain trying to come up with ideas.

[XS1100 Newbie]

Check those pickup wires #1. Pull on them to find the break.